Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-01-13
Sheep Growing An Aid to Better
Farming.
A Paper Read by Hon. W. N. COwden,
Member State Board Of
Agriculture,
At the Farmers Institute, st Clairs-
willie, Dec. 9th, 1887.

StdtcS, du6 dnO AibS
doms. have sriseo in tue past, comment
ed an onward and upward march t.
gTeatl.ess anu power-aL length reached
the ZeulIh OF their glory, and after d
Iunger or shorter time their decadenee
commences, until at last they have
reached the horizon, and, except as the
pen of he historian has recorded their
existence, they are lost amid the wrecks
OF the ages. If We would seek for ih-
causes of their waxing and wanIDg and
subsequent decline and fall. we will fiUd
the prin al cause to have been the fail
ure OF Mother Earth to always feed
without being fed. In other words. the
decline of agriculture produced discon-
Jeur among the laboring population and
blocked the wheels of commerce. and
wars uominslly for conquest or glory, or
succession to tbs throne, or for some &C.
clessiasLicsl shibbOleth, but really be-
cause more fertile lands were needed to
sustain the people and add to the profits
of commerce. First, the discomfort
made the wars possible. then desirable,
then debt, then taxation, then death.
This suggests the fact that the soiu-
tion of the same problem must be made
by the American people. Our annual
exportatien of millions of pounds of
Gheat and corn and oats and tobacco
aud cotton and beef and pork and NUT
ton, is only another form of the state>
ment that we are annually exporting
millions of pounds of the essential ele-
meDts of the soil in the form of nitro
gen, phosphoric acid, and potash, the
nj hraa pooef aosjly cYhaucfod alomanfa 0F
our soil. How long will our soil, fertile
though it be, stand this exhaustive drain !?
Sec'y Chamberlain, now President OF
Iowa Ag. College, has tersely said: THE
whole of the soil is greater than part.
and constant subtraction will diminish
the largest minuend." Already, in tn
older States, particularly in New Eug>
land and the older Southern States, and
on many farms in the newer States,t this
exhaustive process has been carried on,
till many millions of acres have been
abandoned by the plowman. How are we
10 retain aud how restore lost fertllity,is
the problem up for solution, and, like
BaDquos s ghos., will not down at our
bidding" There is but one solution to
the problem-there is but one way of re-
storing, retaining or adding ferJility ,aud
that Is 10y manu- in one form or anOth>
er, and this implies either the purchase
of commercial fertilizers in the form of
lime. plaster, kenit, mari, guano or
South Carolina rock, or the keeping OF
stock of some kind To transform grass.
hay. straw and other crude products OF
the soil into manGI1, WHICH, is ODIy M
other name for plant food. The pur-
chase Of commercial fertilizers is too ex>
pensive, except for those near deposits
of mari or guano or South Carolina rock.
or living near manufactures of CONNER
cial fertilizers. or to The small farmer,
v bo sells his produce from his wagon L.
our larger towns and cities, and can re-
turn, loaded with an equivalent amour
of plant food in his wagon. | know thai
in this connection our friend Terry and
other agricultural writers have contend
ed that good tilIage and good tools, &c,
with clover in rotation plowed under.
i'll retain, if net increase the fertilit.
of the soil But science and observation
are against them. The most that good
tiIiage does or can do, is to enable the
farmer TO extract the hearts blood FROM
the soil, so long as a drop remains. Good
lools only enables the farmer to prepare
his seed bed better, quicker and morr
cheaply, and rs for clover, its use is that
uf pump With its innumerable valves,
10 bring up the fertility which has sunk
into the subsull, beyOrd the reach OF
most other plants. Clover has no power
to entrap and appropriate from nitro
gen, from the atmosphere, in any appre
ciable quantity, and leave II in the sell.
tor the use of plants. Though an en-
til usiastic friend of clover. / have learn
ed that clover adds nothing to the soil
not already there. Indeed, know OF
no way to so quickly destroy fertility as
by taking off both hay and seed. Glover
is gross feeder on the essential ele
ments of plant life, and when not allow
ed TO remain on the field. is as hard on
to be misunderstood; clover, though eX+
hsusting to land, when both hay and
seed are removed,is all-important in ro
tation of crops, and is not employed as
often as it should be in Eastern Ohio.
Clover. though it has no magic power
10 gather plant food from the atmos-
phere, it gathers plant food from the
subsoil, where it is equally as inaccessi-
BILE to most other plants, and brings it to
the surface, and the result is the soil is
densely shaded with luxrriant growth.
The soil aerates and mellows, and when
turned under by the plow, furnishes a
ready supply of plant food for the ce>
reals and grasses.
Ii the foregoing is true, IL the ordina-
ry farmer cannot afford to buy CONNER
cial fertilizers, with added freights and
if he cannot afford to buy
manure. supposing the supply to be sde-
quate, if be has any distance to haui-if
clover and good tiliage are not manure
and if fertility cannot be maintained
without manure it follows that farmers
10 lust make their own manure, by having
live stock TO consume their coarse grain
and bulky products. Sheep>breeders
claim that no other animal does this so
well or thoroughly as sheep and hence
believe that they are an indispensable
aid to agriculture. II asked the reason
for our belief, we comply By offering
the following:
Sheep will eat all kinds of grains and
grasses that other stock eat. and will
eat many kinds of weeds and bushes
that no other animal will eat. Indeed
their most dainty food is gathered
where other animals could not even
find subsistence; among the hundreds of
plants, grasses and bushes common to
eastern Ohio, the writer knows of less
than q dozen that the sheep refues to
eat. AS scavengers they are uDrqualed
and uDrivaled. Every farmer in Ohio
can afford TO keep few sheep to keep
down brisrs, weeds and bushes. even II
he throws the wool away.
When Mr.. Terry tells about going
through his potato field after the last
working to destroy the weeds that were
missed, always feel ike telling him
that few sheep would do the werk
jnst as we'll and more cheaply.
When Secretary Bonbam tells US about
going through the cornfelds after harv+
est to destroy the weeds. always feel
like asking him why he don't turn some
lambs into the cornaeld. II Gen. Hurst